Week 5: Ch. 2-5 Reflection

Had this saved as a draft for about a week and forgot to publish...oops!

Chapter 2:
                                                                                                                                                                    Chapter 2 begins discussing the five levels of change, which is two more levels added from the previous section. The first is called presencing, which is, according to Scharmer, "seeing from our deepest source." The first thing that popped out at me though while reading this chapter was the interview with Brian Arthur from Xerox. He discussed the two levels of cognition, with the basic level being just working with your conscious mind. The second level is a much deeper form of cognition, which is knowing. This is basically coming from within yourself, and where you're coming from in your own experience. I took this as almost a realization. It may not come right away, but once it does, you must act upon it. This is illustrated in a three-step process, which is to observe, retreat and reflect, and act in an instant. Chapter 2 also elaborated more deeply on the processes of the U. I feel like upon reading about the five levels of change that this is where businesses sometimes fail because of the fact that they don't follow through, causing them to be stuck in a rut.


Chapter 3

Chapter 3 discusses learning and change on four levels. These include the first level reacting, or responding naturally by your normal habit. The second level is redesigning, which is to change the underlying structure and process. Level three is reframing, or changing the overall outlook, and level four is presencing, which was discussed in Chapter 2. The second two levels, I feel are the most difficult because companies will realize the problem and strive to redesign their structure, but fail to rethink the problem at hand in-depth. This ties into the difference between learning from the past, which is what is usually done given that its easier, and learning from the future, which can be difficult to do unless you rethink the situation.

Chapter 4

Chapter 4 started out explaining the three different types of complexities. The first was dynamic complexity, which is the most well known, and is when there is a systematic distance or delay between cause and effect in space or time. I particularly enjoyed the example of global warming that Sharmer included, being that our emissions of carbon dioxide may not have much of a noticable impact now, but could possibly have a long-term impact, possibly over thousands to millions of years. The second, social complexity, seems to have its focus more on the different interests and worldviews among everyone. This is where personal beliefs and interests get in the way of finding a universal way of pleasing everyone, which can be virtually impossible, depending on the situation. The third and final complexity- emerging- has a similar reference to the phrase enveloping the entire book: "Learning from the future as it emerges."

Chapter 5:

Chapter 5 was probably the most confusing to me, but the point that stuck out to me the most was the fact that people create organizations and such, but then face the risk of ultimately failing because they get trapped within their own rules. I feel like the touchy subject of religion can fit into this, back to when you were shunned or killed for not following the bible or the guidelines of the religion, to this day in age with the struggle of equality for all people, specifically those of the LGBT community.